Never Alone For Christmas
by poohxebony
Summary: Gin and Yanagi pay Rangiku a Christmas visit at her grave. In Loving Memory of Crazyfreakazoid, the author of the Bleach fic 'Once More'. AU.


**AUTHOR'S NOTE****:** This story is dedicated to one of my dearest fanfiction friends, in her memory. Her name was _**crazyfreakazoid**_. I received news from another friend about her departure over a car accident a few months ago. After not hearing from crazyfreakazoid for so long and now receiving such news, I felt that her talent and passion in writing on fanfiction shouldn't be forgotten. She was an amazing writer with great imagination, and always supported her friends with reviews and a lot of other things.

Because of her passing, I felt that I needed to write this story in her honor, since we were supposed to do more fun with her fic, _Once__More_. Crazyfreakazoid's passing also helped me realized how important it is to cherish each moment with your family and loved ones while you have the chance, since you never know if there'll be a tomorrow.

To learn more about the character Yanagi and her connection with Gin, please check out crazyfreakazoid's story, _Once__More_. Her profile can still be found in the fanfiction system. Consider this as an aftermath, a year later from the story plot in her story. Just to give you a heads up about the awkward spelling and way of Gin's grammar, I did this on purpose because that was how crazyfreak made him talk in her story. So none of these characters belong to me whatsoever, not even Yanagi.

So crazyfreak, this one's for you. Thank you for being such a good friend. It was fun working with you on your story. Merry Christmas, and you will be forever missed T.T

**In Love Memory Of**

**Crazyfreakazoid**

**May You Rest In Peace**

* * *

><p>Snow fell down gently from the clouded sky in Soul Society, bringing some peaceful harmony to start the morning. A young girl slowly opened her eyes, trying to make her brain function to the fact that another day had arrived. And it wasn't just any day—Christmas Day finally came. Realizing that, her mouth slowly formed a smile and made her sit up from her futon bed. She stretched her upper body and blinked several times to make her sky blue eyes more adjusted.<p>

"Well, no use spending the whole day in bed", Miyashita Yanagi said to herself. "I gotta get myself together". Yanagi stood up and walked over to her little mirror table. She brushed her mid-length sandy blonde hair smoothly. After examining her face one last time in the mirror, she looked down at the other object that meant something really special to her.

She picked up and trailed traces around her golden lieutenant badge with her finger, a soft smile formed on her lips. It had been almost a month since her graduation in becoming the new Lieutenant of Squad 3. Although feeling a sense of pride over her accomplishment each day, she still couldn't believe how she found the strength to undergo the hard training. Like everyone else in Soul Society, she underwent a personal journey that helped her discover who she was as a person. It helped her seek the inner strength that she never thought she could possibly have. But despite her doubtful times, Yanagi continued fighting. She knew the determination would pay off.

More importantly, she also found the inner trust and companionship with her zanpakto, _Shinseina__ Hikari_. The name of her graceful yet powerful weapon matched Yanagi's abilities in more ways than one, being the _'__divine__ light__'_ that she was as a good person. She picked up her sword from the left side of the mirror table, slowly drawing it out of its sheath. Yanagi smiled again as she looked at her reflection from the shiny blade.

No matter how grateful Yanagi felt towards everyone in the Thirteen Division for their unconditional support and acceptance, especially her new men in Squad 3, nothing topped her gratitude towards _him_ alone. After all, over the past year since they met, he's been her hero in so many ways. Without him, Yanagi knew she wouldn't be the strong and loyal lieutenant she was today.

All the more reason why she needed to start her day and reach him.

"Alrighty then, time to get things on the road!", Yanagi exclaimed happily. "I got so much stuff to do; gotta pass out all my Christmas cards to everyone, plus there's this gathering celebration later on this evening…. It's gonna be one busy day!" She stood up and walked to her closet. She opened both doors and selected her black kimono outfit. After getting dressed, she went to her dresser and opened her top drawer. She pulled out the stack of white envelopes tied together by a string, each with a name written on the front. Next, she went back to her mirror table and picked up the lieutenant badge, traditionally wrapping the badge around her left kimono sleeve. Yanagi finally picked up her zanpakto from the floor, placed it in her white sash and headed out the door—but suddenly paused.

"Oh crap, almost forgot the present!", she said, slapping her forehead with her hand. She went back to her closet and picked up the present from the top shelve. She was relieved to see the red wrapping paper with the golden ribbon still in perfect condition. "Now I should be all set", she said as she closed the bedroom door behind her.

* * *

><p>Yanagi was happy to come across some of the people she had Christmas cards for; she gave one to Kira, who promoted himself as the new Captain of Squad 5, Hisagi, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Kenpachi, Momo, Isane, Unohana, Omaeda, and even Byakuya. For the rest, she would pass out her cards to them during the celebration in the evening.<p>

Yanagi walked around the west side of the central organization of the Soul Society, wondering where her captain would be. She looked around as she paced, the gift underneath the stack of envelopes she was holding. "Geez, of all times, Gin just _has_ to be a no-show right now", she grumbled irritably. "You would think that he would wanna show his holly-jolly face for this kind of holiday".

As soon as she turned the corner, a tiny girl with pink hair shouted her name and waved from the distance in the snow next to her snowman. "Yanagi!", Yachiru shouted, smiling brightly. "Hi! Come check out the snowman I built! It's a snowman of Ken-chan!". Yanagi smiled and waved back, then taking a good look at Yachiru's work. Surprisingly, Yachiru did a pretty good job structuring Kenpachi's shape, especially for a little girl her size and all by herself.

"Wow, it's really good Yachiru," Yanagi said. "It's so much better than what I would have done. Hey listen, have you seen Captain Ichimaru around here? I have a present to give him".

Yachiru looked up at Yanagi with a slight puzzled look. "You mean Foxface Man? Hmm…. maybe Foxface Man is at his favorite garden! I remember seeing him in his favorite garden all the time last year, even before he met you".

Yanagi snapped her fingers. "Duh, of course! Gin even once showed me his favorite garden before. Too bad he only showed me once for me to remember how much he loves gardens". She then looked down at Yachiru and smiled. "Thanks Yachiru. Oh yeah, here's a Christmas card for ya. Merry Christmas". Yachiru smiled wider and jumped at Yanagi for a hug.

"Heeheehee, thank you Yana-chan! Merry Christmas!", she cheered. Yanagi put her down and pat her head, then waved goodbye as she walked away. Fortunately for her, she still had a slight memory on how to find Gin's garden, which was at the east side of the organization. When she finally reached the other side of the place, she immediately spotted the silver haired man sitting on a stone bench straight ahead. She couldn't tell exactly what Gin was gazing at, whether it was the trees around him or at the sky. She couldn't even tell if he wore his usual wide grin. But he sat there in a composed manner.

But as she headed closer in the garden area, she had a better look at his expression; although he wore a smile, it was almost sad instead of lively. His usually closed eyelids were halfway open, showing a tint of his ice blue orbs. He still gazed into nothingness, not moving his head despite hearing and seeing Yanagi coming his way. _'__Wonder __if__ he__'__s __thinking __about __something __sad__'__,_ Yanagi thought to herself. She immediately went focused on cheering Gin up in any way she could.

Yanagi smiled and waved. "So there you are, Captain. I was practically on a hunt to find ya", she said humorously, hoping Gin would snap out of it and look at her. Gin however continued looking straight ahead. Yanagi shifted her head to the side at him "Er..Captain? Gin? Are you alright?", she asked carefully. Not hearing a response, she took it upon herself and sat down next to him on the stone bench. She placed her free hand on his shoulder.

Finally realizing that someone was with him, Gin lost his train of thought and looked at Yanagi, a bit surprised. He then grinned with his eyelids closed. "Ah, yer lookin' for me?", he asked.

Yanagi looked back at him quizzically. "Yeah, I just said that a minute ago, that I was on a wild goose chase to find you. And you end up being here of all places! Wish I thought about this place sooner instead of wasting 45 minutes of my time", she said, shrugging. "Oh well, it's still Christmas". After hearing Yanagi talk, Gin suddenly looked down at the white ground.

"Gin? Gin, what's the matter? Is there something I said?", Yanagi asked, bending down at him. "Is it because I sounded a bit sarcastic? I wasn't trying to be mean about it".

Gin slowly shook his head, grinning again. "Eh, naw. It ain't that".

"Then what's the matter? Wanna talk about it?". Gin looked up at Yanagi again and smiled, finally standing up. He gestured his arm at her, as if to stand up and follow him somewhere.

"Hey Yanagi….wanna join me in visitin' an ole' friend of mine?", he asked nicely. Still looked confused, Yanagi stood up and shrugged.

"Um, sure. Where we're going?"

"Ya see", Gin said as he began walking. 'We're headin' out of the gate". When both of them stepped out of the Soul Society gate and headed towards a snow covered hill, Yanagi continue wondering about Gin's odd behavior. '_Wonder __why__ he __still__ looks __sad __if __we__'__re__ visiting __a __friend.__ That__'__s __supposed__ to __be __a __good __thing,__right?__'__._ They walked in silence as they headed up the hill. When they finally reached the top, Yanagi peeked at the right side of Gin to see what was there, since she was behind him. In the distance, she saw a single dark oval-shaped stone planted on the ground. She raised an eyebrow.

'_Is __that __a__…__tombstone?__'__,_ she asked. She then looked up at Gin, who looked straight ahead at the stone. His expression became the same expression Yanagi saw at the garden. "Gin?", she asked softly. "What is this?".

Gin looked down at her and smiled, lecturing his head to walk towards the gravestone with him. "Come on. She's been waitin' to meet ya". Yanagi slowly followed him until they reached closer to the gravestone. Gin was the first to bend down and place his bare hand on the hardened and cold stone, still smiling. Still not understanding, Yanagi walked closer towards the gravesite to see the wordings engraved on the tombstone:

_In Loving Memory of Rangiku Matsumoto._

_A True Beauty, A Strong Warrior, A Wonderful Friend._

_May She Rest In Peace._

That's when she finally understood.

Suddenly, a slight saddening feeling erupted inside of her. It wasn't out of jealousy, for the name engraved on the stone was no stranger to Yanagi. But this was the very first time being here. Not once had she ever asked where his friend was buried, knowing it would cause more open wounds. She looked back at Gin, still knelt on one knee quietly. He finally looked up at Yanagi, smiling. "Hey Yanagi, come sit here for a sec", he asked nicely. Yanagi studied his eyes as she slowly knelt down, wondering what else he was thinking. After an entire year of being around the strange silver haired man, she learned some things about his strong connection to the woman in the grave.

She remembered the stories Gin told her about Rangiku; how they met as children, that she was a lieutenant in Squad 10, and what kind of wonderful person she was. He even told Yanagi how he went rogue and followed their deceased arch nemesis, Sosuke Aizen, leaving Rangiku behind and betrayed. But the bravest thing Gin did while opening up with Yanagi—was flashing back on the fateful day of Rangiku's death. How she risked her life to save her captain from the madman. He remembered it clearly, as if the horrible moment happened yesterday.

Of course, it took months before Gin knew he was strong enough to open up and communicate with Yanagi. Although it have been 12 years since Rangiku's death, a part of him still hated himself for letting such an awful fate happen to her. But throughout the past year, he found an unique bond with Yanagi that made him feel some sort of peace again. Sometimes, Gin couldn't explain it; he knew it wasn't the same bond like it was with Rangiku. But the bond with Yanagi somehow took him away from his misery. He still remembered how she thought he was a petty gambling loser when she first saw him, not realizing the grief he suffered over Rangiku. The memory still brought an amused grin to his face.

Supposedly, that's what made him grew more fascinated with the young girl and her unpredictably kind and determined personality. Gin felt that he was the only person in the world to see that special potential in her, and wanted to see how far her inner powers could go. This was why he chose to stay by her side and helped her throughout her training. He knew she deserved it, and hoped she felt the same way. But something told him that Yanagi did know and being ever grateful for his help. Overall, it was clear that she became his missing piece that he'd been searching for all these years.

This made him more than ready to do this. He was finally ready to make the final step for his closure.

"Hey Rangiku, nice to see ya. Meet my new buddy I told ya 'bout, remember? The klutzy newby?", Gin spoked freely at the tombstone. Yanagi looked back at Gin, amazed to see Gin acting as if he was seeing Rangiku and having a regular chat. Then she noticed the name he called her.

"Hey! I resent that!", she snapped, narrowing her eyes.

Gin chuckled then turned back to the tombstone. "Yeah, we been friends for a year now. Amazin', ain't it? Yeah, Yanagi's been an ole' piece of werk, I tell ya….Never met such a stubern, little midget girl like her, other than Rukia". Gin smiled wider as he saw Yanagi growing more irritated by the remarks. "But, I guess that's why I chose her as my right-hand man—er, _girl_". He chuckled again softly.

Was this his idea of a great time visiting someone's grave? "Gin…", Yanagi said through gritted teeth. "You brought me all the way over here just to make fun of me in front of your friend's grave? Is this why you brought me here for the first time?"

Gin stopped chuckling and looked back at Yanagi, with a serious expression. "Naw, Yanabi. I brought ya here cause….you and Ran deserved to be introduced to one another. So she can see how much I've truly moved on….and gottin' happier….", he trailed, looking back at the tombstone on the last sentence. His ice blue eyes grew a little softer. Yanagi stared at Gin for a moment, then looked back at the tombstone.

"The reason I brought ya here….is to show you that I've moved on and gottin' happier too", he said softly. "Looking back at the past year, it got me thinkin': since I am your Capin' and yer my new right-hand man, it means we now form a bond of trust and companionship. The kind of companionship that should makes us feel we can share _everything_ together…..that's why you're here".

Yanagi continued looking at Gin surprisingly. "You mean…you brought me here as way of showing me how much you trust me? To know all about you?", she asked.

Gin looked back and grinned. "Yeah, now yer getting' it. Before I knew ya, Ran and I used to make one helluva great Christmas time together. It didn't matter if we had gifts or not, but we had each other".

"Why are you telling me all this?", Yanagi asked. Gin looked serious again.

"Cause….now that yer here, Rangiku can see that I found my missing piece of the puzzle…and I ain't alone for Christmas no more".

Yanagi kept staring at Gin more surprised. Gin actually felt that way toward her? Had their friendship over the past year meant something to him? Suddenly, a new feeling erupted inside of her, but it was no longer the sadness. It was the feeling of warmth and admiration. She smiled warmly at Gin while looking into his ice blue orbs, finally having an understanding where his feelings stood. The thought of their friendship easing his pain over the woman he possibly ever loved made her feel that she saved his life.

Gin then placed a hand on Yanagi's head gently, smiling down at her. "I just wanna let ya know, I'm glad yer my right-hand man—er, girl. Thanks Yanagi". He then took something out from inside his haori pocket, and handed it to her. Yanagi looked at the small wooden box.

"Is this a present?", she asked.

Gin chuckled. "Open it, why don't ya?".

Yanagi took the wooden box from his hand and opened it. Her eyes widened more as she witnessed the beautiful and seemingly expensive silver chained necklace, with the hoop in the middle. Yanagi looked back at Gin, speechless. "Is this…?"

"Yep. It's the same necklace I gave Rangiku when we were kids. Now it's yers".

Yanagi grew touched. "But… this belonged to Rangiku! I can't take something that belonged to your precious friend—"

Gin patted her head again, giggling. "Hey, don't worry about it! Cause I know it's in good hands with my new special buddy. Besides…she'll want ya to have it, knowing you'll cherish it for me".

Yanagi looked back at Gin and then the necklace, finally smiling. "Oh Gin….thanks. Really. I will cherish this necklace for you. In Rangiku's honor". Gin smiled and nodded, offered to put the necklace around her. After snapping the lock piece, Gin grinned. "Ha. Never thought it would hang so low on ya…either you need to grow fast or wait til puberty starts". Yanagi playfully punched his arm and stuck out her tongue.

"Perve…", she said. "Oh! Here's my gift to you". She handed Gin the small wrapped rectangular box. Gin shook it, looking at it quizzically.

"Hmm, what could it be?", he asked.

Yanagi smirked. "Open it, why don't ya?" she copied. Gin tore the paper and ribbon and opened the box. It was a row of some freshly baked persimmons.

"Oh golly! My fave!", Gin exclaimed happily, showing his usual wide grin that he was known for. He immediately took a persimmon and bit it. "Mmmmmm, nice and well done! Yanagi….thanks".

Yanagi smiled. "Merry Christmas, Captain. How about we go back? It'll soon be time for the holiday gathering celebration, and I still got cards to pass out!" Gin laughed and patted Yanagi's head one last time.

"Ya see, Ran? Unpredictable she is. Merry Christmas, Ran. See ya!".

Yanagi smiled after he said goodbye to his friend, now happy to see he finally have closure to move on. Yanagi looked back over her shoulder as they both walked away from Rangiku's grave, smiling softly. _Thanks __Rangiku __for__ everything __you__'__ve __done __for__ Gin. __He__ really __is __a __great __guy. __I __promise __to __take __care __of __him __and __make __sure __he__'__s__ happy __for __the __rest __of__ his __years__._'

As both walked down the hill, Rangiku's spirit looked backed at them. A pleased smile formed on her beautiful face. She knew Gin will never be alone again, not even for Christmas.

"_Thank__ you,__ Yanagi. __Merry __Christmas,__Gin__"_, her voice echoed softly in the frosty air.


End file.
